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Video: South Carolina eager to tackle unknowns of Week 1

UVA BIO PICby:Mike Uva08/29/23

Mike_Uva

Video: South Carolina eager to tackle unknowns of Week 1
Photo: Gamecock Central

Let’s address the elephant in the room. Shane Beamer has announced that both wide receivers Juice Wells and Nyck Harbor will play in this weekend’s opener. 

It goes without saying but that’s great news for the the Gamecocks who will need everyone in order to beat a talented UNC team who appears in the top-25 to start the season.

“Game ones are different just because there’s so many unknowns,” said Beamer. “You’re nervous before every game but game one is a different type of nervousness because it’s just your first time doing it for real.”

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A lot of those unknowns for South Carolina start with what this offense will look like with new play-caller Dowell Loggains.

“Hey man, I’m just as excited as everybody else,” said tight end Josh Simon. “Tune in Saturday. It should be a pretty good show.”

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“We’ve had a great camp. A great summer, great spring,” said running back Dakereon Joyner. “Now it’s time to unleash it on somebody else and show the world what we can do.”

One thing that we do know is that quarterback Spencer Rattler looks ready to go. His demeanor on Tuesday was as locked in as I’ve ever seen him.

“Obviously a year under my belt in this conference. A lot more comfortable,” said Rattler. “I know what to expect and I’m just excited to play North Carolina on Saturday on a big time stage.”

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“He’s one of a kind,” said defensive back DQ Smith. “Going against him everyday in practice, he’s getting us better as a secondary. Just checking things down and making perfect passes — we’re playing great defense so he’s making excellent passes. Just going against him everyday it really is iron sharpening iron.”

Defensively, there’s a lot of unknowns as well. Like how will the run defense look?

“(Losing) Zacch (Pickens) the room took a hit,” said Alex ‘Boogie’ Huntley. “But we have some new guys coming up and we’re trusting our teachings. We know what we can do and know that we can stop the run. Just a chip on our shoulder because we feel like everyone is looking at us. We plan to show everybody how it’s done.”

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Or, what to expect from some of these talented underclass men such as linebacker Stone Blanton who’ll be making his first career start

“I’m super excited about it. This preseason was really fun,” said Blanton. “I had a good time out there with the guys and worked really hard.”

Beamer admitted that practice on Tuesday was a bit sloppy and that there wasn’t enough urgency. Hopefully his message today will be received loud and clear as the Gamecocks return to the practice field on Wednesday. 

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